Weathering the Storm
by Night Diviner
Summary: Sloth pair face yet another tough battle - getting home in the rain. An every day issue like this seems simple enough to overcome, but the experience proves more trying for Mahiru than he could have ever anticipated.
1. Chapter 1

No matter how early or how deep into the school year, students always get excited when the dismissal bell sounds on Friday, for they know they have a weekend of relaxation ahead of them. Like everyone else, Mahiru was usually excited on this final day of the week, counting down the minutes of his last class, shuffling through the crowds of students for the exit, his little black cat perched on his head. The cat was just as eager to go home, despite the fact that he usually slept through the school day anyway.

Today was a different story, for both Mahiru and Kuro. Thunder echoed through the school building throughout Mahiru's last period, heralding a grueling and possibly delayed trek back home. Mahiru dreaded it, and he nagged himself for not paying attention to the weather that morning and bringing his umbrella. Scratch that, it wasn't his fault he didn't anticipate the rain - he'd been busy gathering a science project together. It was his lazy servamp whom had been sitting in front of the tv all morning, munching on Froot Loops straight from the box.

On their way downstairs after dismissal, Mahiru looked to the window. The sky was still dark, and a lightning bolt cracked across the sky, making the building quake from the monstrous clap of thunder that followed. "Geez, Kuro. Couldn't you have at least checked the weather for me this morning?"

"Hey, I'm normally good about doing that," his servamp calmly defended. Mahiru realized that he had a point. Kuro even checked his zodiac each week, which may have seemed creepy to some, but the eve thought it showed how serious Kuro was about keeping him safe. It was kind of endearing, if Mahiru was being honest.

Still, the defnse wasn't quite good enough."Okay, so what was different about today?"

Another loud clap of thunder rang through the halls, cutting Kuro off from answering. "You sure you want to go out in this?" the cat asked, curious as to why his eve was still heading for the exit.

"It's not like we have much of a choice." That was true. Teachers and staff were making sure that students were heading towards the exits, telling them to travel home safely and quickly. Mahiru continued, "By the sound of it, it's only going to get worse, and we can't just stay in the school and keep all the teachers from getting home."

Something about what Mahiru had just said irked Kuro. The servamp stiffened but didn't protest, so Mahiru decided to take that like Kuro was in agreement, but still annoyed they'd have to face the bad weather. The eve stopped when he arrived at the door, lowering his backpack from his shoulders and his cat from his head with a sigh. He unzipped his bag and gently scooted Kuro into it. "Here, if you're so worried about getting your fur wet, you can just sleep in here until we get home."

Kuro immediately hopped out of the bag, neatly setting himself beside his eve. "No way."

This confused Mahiru, who involuntarily arched an eyebrow at the response. "Huh? Why not?" He'd never have expected his servamp of sloth to turn down an offer to nap. After all, Kuro was more thanhappy sleeping through important tasks, much to Mahiru's annoyance.

A sweat droplet formed on Kuro's cheek, and he glanced down at his paws nervously. "Cause, doing that would be like one of those water torture tactics." But there was something else, too, something that Kuro didn't know if he could say yet.

"EH!?" Mahiru reared back, stunned. How could he just get that dark all of a sudden?

"Dramatic much?" Kuro sighed, unamused as always.

"Look who's talking!"

"I'm just saying, if it rains too much on your bag, I might drown in there." Once again, the servamp had a point...and it still wasn't the point he really wanted to make, but he decided there was no need to mention that. Without waiting for any response from his eve, he hopped onto Mahiru's arm and began climbing his way to his shoulder.

In return, Mahiru didn't wait for a response from Kuro and lifted him from his shoulder. "Ah, ah, ah," Mahiru protested as he tucked the cat into the brown cardigan of his uniform. "You're not getting soaked and coming down with feline pnemonia." Kuro instantly felt cozy inside the cuddly sweater, but there was something about the gesture itself which was making Kuro feel warm. Mahiru was always so generous, and if anything, that was a flaw of his. For another thing, the servamp was right up against Mahiru's chest...he could both hear and feel the boy's heart beating through his shirt. Something about that made Kuro's own heart beat faster.

Mahiru finally stood back up again, lifting the backpack over his head as a makeshift umbrella. With that, the sloth pair was off to face another battle - getting home through the rain.


	2. Chapter 2

Just three minutes into their long journey home, the clouds were already looking 10x more threatening. The wind had picked up, buffetting Mahiru's school jacket against him. The upside was that the rain wasn't as powerful as Mahiru expected, either that or he had a miracle backpack. He figured that he and Kuro could make it home in their usual time, which was roughly 10 minutes. Plus, their route home required going through the city, which meant that if the weather got too bad, the two of them could seek shelter in a store. Everything would be alright...

...Mahiru thought too soon. In the mist the rain provided, the teen could make out red and blue beams flashing. It was a little disorienting, and if Mahiru was anywhere else, the flashing lights would sure confuse him. However, the boy knew exactly where he was - he was coming upon the fork in the street, where the options for walkers were uphill or downhill. Mahiru knew to go downhill, but as he came closer to the fork, he didn't want to go a step further.

3 police cars were parked very randomly, yellow caution tape had been put up. On the wind, Kuro caught the scent of flares that were surely put out by the rain. In their place, cones dotted the pavement surrounding the scene of an accident. It seemed to Mahiru that only one car had been involved. It was over on its side some distance from the hill, but the most damage had been done to the front of the car, which was all smashed in. Smoke rose high in the air from the radiator.

It seemed that the entire scene was playing out in both servamp and eve's minds. A car had been going around the bend above, heading downhill, when it suddenly hydroplaned and cascaded off the hillside, nose-diving into the road below and rolling a few meters away.

It was another scene which came into Mahiru's mind. The squeal of tires, a protective arm shooting out in front of him, glass flying everywhere, blood on the pavement. The flashback had the teen frozen in his tracks, and Kuro noticed the way his eve's heartbeat had slowed considerably. It concerned him, only because it took him a moment to recall how Mahiru's mother had been killed in a horrible accident. "Mahiru?" he called softly, turning his gaze upward to look at Mahiru's chin.

Another boom bellowed from the clouds.

Mahiru's honey brown eyes fluttered, and he finally let out a concealed breath. His servamp had brought him back to reality...or, well, the present reality. "I'm okay," he assured Kuro. He suddenly had the urge to ruffle the fur on top of the cat's head, as a sort of silent, "Thank you" for reminding him where he was - 16 years of age, high school student, servamp's eve, on the way home. He immediately felt ashamed for getting sidetracked by something that happened 10 years before, when there were more important things to focus on. He didn't have time to be selfish, so he pressed on past the scene.

Kuro noticed something different about Mahiru. He seemed a lot more focused, dead-set on getting home. The question was, were they getting home safe? The rain was only getting worse, and yet Mahiru was running through it, kicking up dirty rainwater that had pooled in the streets.

The thunder was only getting louder and more frequent, and yet Mahiru didn't flinch at any the car horns that sounded from the impact. As the two entered the city, Kuro noticed how the wind was now whistling through his whiskers, and whether it was the force of the thunderstorm or the sheer speed his eve was taking on, he knew it wasn't a good sign. Also, Mahiru was beginning to push and shove his way past people who were just as eager to get into the safety of their homes. This was very uncharacteristic, and Kuro felt his concern grow. "Maybe we should go into a shop, don't ya think?"

"Don't be silly!" the teen's voice came out rather harshly. "We're getting home in one trip!"

Kuro had always been conflicted over Mahiru's determination. While he admired his will to never give up on others, especially on him, it could be annoying when Mahiru wanted to do something that Kuro didn't want to do, especially when it was something that didn't feel right. This was an instance in which Mahiru's determination didn't feel right. He could easily get severely hurt being this panicked, end up no better off than the driver of the wrecked vehicle they'd passed. Yet, maybe getting a little hurt was something Mahiru needed to stop him in his tracks.


	3. Chapter 3

Taking a breath, Kuro wriggled out from Mahiru's cardigan and kicked a tiny foot against his chest to thrust himself forward, making a leap to land on the pavement of the walkway in front of them on all fours. His graceful landing was quickly interrupted when his eve stumbled over him with a startled gasp. The teen's shoe made contact with the cat's flank, causing Kuro to let out a sharp wince. Even still, he wouldn't let his eve hit the concrete. Under the shelter of the dark clouds above, it was simple enough for Kuro to revert to his human form, just in time for Mahiru to land softly on top of him.

Stunned for a moment, Mahiru just lay there, hands braced against his servamp's shoulders. His bare knees were miraculously unscathed, for one had landed conveniently on one of Kuro's coattails, and the other was on the servamp's thigh. Kuro was a little more hurt, his side still hurting from where Mahiru accidently kicked him. The impact of an average-sized teenager landing on top of him didn't help him, either.

Mahiru looked into Kuro's calm eyes with his own startled ones. It was as if Mahiru had been redeemed from possession, while Kuro's expression remained dull, yet it was familiar to Mahiru in a time when everything was confusing. How could he have gotten so reckless? Why did everything look so different in the rain? Why was he so frigthened, when rain happened all the time? How did Kuro manage to do that maneuver and end up below him?

True, the position was a little awkward, and yet, the only thing Mahiru wanted to change about this was the way his knee was probably uncomfortably digging into Kuro, so he eased it down onto the concrete. Mahiru just wanted to stay like yhis a moment, to catch his breath and get himself together. Staring into Kuro's eyes, Mahiru realized how comforting it was to have the rain fall down around them. The thunder sounded less threatening and more like a calm drum in the distance. The wind was rough, but Mahiru welcomed the way it cooled him off. He lifted himself slightly, closing his eyes to absorb the storm around him, to accept it for all it was, to realize that it wasn't so scary after all.

Kuro's red eyes widened with a sudden realization. Mahiru looked...beautiful. The breeze stirred the eve's hair in such a gentle way, as if loving fingers were stroking through it. His eyebrows were relaxed, as if he was dreaming a peaceful dream (surely one about pillows). It wasn't long before a smile lighted on Mahiru's face, a feature that Kuro always looked away from, but never wanted to go away. Yet, with Mahiru's eyes closed, somehow Kuro felt better about staring at the bright grin that always flustered him so. What was so beautiful about his eve right now, was how serene he appeared. It almost made Kuro smile himself, but instead, he realized there was something he needed to say to his eve. "You're always thinking of others."

Mahiru opened his eyes and looked down at Kuro, fixing him with another confused expression, but this time it was one that was willing to listen, and not simply argue. "But it's okay to slow down and think of yourself for a change," Kuro continued. He thought back to when Mahiru refused to stay in the school building, or ask a teacher to drive them home, because of how Mahiru didn't want to be a bother. "Or else, you might end up falling."

Mahiru sighed, his breath coming out as a puff of steam above Kuro's head, for the storm had made the air a bit chilly. "I feel like I was just being selfish though."

"There's a difference between being selfish and taking care of yourself." Kuro had no idea where these words were coming from. He was never one to spout knowledge...what changed? "You know, you'd be a hypocrite if you didn't think of yourself."

Mahiru chuckled. "I guess you're right, there."

The rain fell around them a little longer. Passerbys were starting to take notice, and a few people really had to veer around the two - they were dead center of the sidewalk, after all.

"Now, could you get off me? This sidewalk is very wet, and you're heavy," Kuro muttered.

"Hey!" Mahiru mocked offense, but he lifted himself up from Kuro anyway. Kuro was about to shuffle himself up too, but when he sat up, he noticed his she's hand extended to him. The two of them made eye contact before Kuro grabbed his hand and hoisted himself up, and Mahiru could have almost sworn he saw a faint smile on his servamp's face. He decided it was best not to mention it though, because Kuro would probably deny it. Still, it filled Mahiru with an indescribable warmth, and he found it hard to look directly at Kuro. He set his sights elsewhere, looking for something to distract him before his cheeks started redefining. "Umm...my bag, where did it...oh..." He bent down and collected up his bag, from which a couple pencils had spilled onto the pavement. Once again, he lifted the bag over his head, for the rain was still just as hard as before. "Okay, Kuro. Back to cat form." Mahiru glanced around at his surroundings, making sure the coasy was clear for transformation. "Quick, before anyone notices."

"Ah, ah, ah." At this monotonous form of gentle refusal, Mahiru looked back at Kuro with scorn. What he saw deserved even more scorn, for Kuro was removing his coat in the pouring rain. The eve was about to protest, but Kuro handed the coat to him, which cut the teenager off. Instead, Mahiru set his backpack down and took the coat, smiling up at the servamp.

His thick hair was getting soaked, which made it begin to flatten against his head. The shade had turned from a pale, powdered blue to more of a light, blue-gray color. Water trickled from the ends of his hair down his cheeks. Mahiru realized...just how beautiful Kuro looked right now. "Thank you, Kuro." Finally, the eve fitted the coat around himself, lifting the hood over his head. It was a little roomy in there, as Kuro was taller by several centimeters. "But I'm still carrying you in cat form."

Without any more hesitation, Kuro reverted back into cat form and jumped into Mahiru's hands, which safely tucked him back into the brown cardigan. "Of course. You think I would willingly get wet?"

Mahiru chuckled at him. He was finally able to ruffle the fur on top of Kuro's head out of thanks. With that, the two were back on their way home, but this time, everything seemed peaceful within. Mahiru realized just how much he needed Kuro, someone to take care of him, when he refused to take care of himself. _Thank you so much for being here with me._


End file.
